This master’s thesis is a qualitative analysis of youth mental health journeys in Atlantic Canada, asking how youth experience treatments in the mental health system. Participants (N=8), aged 13-18, identified with anxiety disorders and had sought services within the mental health system. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with participants. Youth narrative summaries were presented providing rich youth perspectives in mental health research. A thematic analysis detailed both Show moreThis master’s thesis is a qualitative analysis of youth mental health journeys in Atlantic Canada, asking how youth experience treatments in the mental health system. Participants (N=8), aged 13-18, identified with anxiety disorders and had sought services within the mental health system. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with participants. Youth narrative summaries were presented providing rich youth perspectives in mental health research. A thematic analysis detailed both positive and negative experiences, which acted as facilitators and barriers for treatment often in contradictory forms. The central themes were: therapeutic relationships, treatment in school, medicalization, wait times, and being stuck in the margins. Communication and trust issues, a lack of comprehensive treatment options, and the complexity of navigating the system, pervaded the narratives. A social historical framework also informed the design, analysis, and findings of this thesis, which tracked the rise of anxiety in the twentieth century and contextualized current day treatments. This thesis has produced insights regarding the importance of youth perspectives in evaluating mental health care given the marginalization of these perspectives in past psychiatric discourses and present- day narratives. Keywords: youth, qualitative, anxiety, treatment, social history, mental health. Show less